Sometimes, the pivotal moments in a soccer game are scattered over the course for 90 minutes. And sometimes, a small window of the match proves to be the difference.
The latter was true Tuesday night as the Jacksonville Armada fell to Miami FC 3-1 in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup at FIU Stadium in Miami.
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In the span of 10 minutes, the Armada scored the opening goal of the match, saw Miami equalize, and then saw a player sent off when a second yellow card within three minutes of time brought out a red card.
After that, Miami had the advantage of men and finally, goals.
Here’s how it played out. Just after the half-hour mark, Jacksonville midfielder Luto Tom, a former UNF Osprey from South Africa, sent a long pass over the Miami defenders. Two bounces later, it was on the foot of Charles Eloundou, who sent it into the back of the net to give Jacksonville the 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute.
In the 40th minute, Tom was shown a yellow card. Three minutes later, a second. That forced the Armada to play a man down for the rest of the match.
FT | Our @opencup run unfortunately comes to an end | 3-1 #MFCvJAX
— Jacksonville Armada FC (@JaxArmadaFC) April 5, 2023
Playing with 10 men, the Armada managed to keep Miami out of the net until the 82nd minute. Two minutes later Ayrton Redmore was shown a second yellow forcing the Armada to play 9 v 11 for the final minutes of the match. A minute after the second sending-off, Miami added another to make the final 3-1.
In all, the Armada was shown seven yellow cards in the match as they were knocked out of the tournament by their former rivals from the NASL days.
Now, the Armada will turn its attention to the NPSL schedule which opens on April 29th at Tallahassee.